BY OCHE PELA
ABUJA – WORRIED by the battered image of the Judiciary system of the country, a panel of stakeholders comprising Senior Advocates of Nigeria and notable activists on Tuesday in Abuja, charged the incoming Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-skin, to be prepared to sanitize the judiciary to restore public confidence in the arm of government.
The panelists at a roundtable discussion lamented that the judiciary is currently in the woods with a battered image that must be reformed in the interest of justice delivery.
At the roundtable discussion, where a five-point agenda was prepared as a guide for the CJN nominee, were two professors of law, Ernest Ojukwu, SAN and Samuel Erugo, SAN, human rights activist Aisha Yesufu, and other justice stakeholders.
The Panelists charged Kekere-skin to be prepared to reform judicial appointments in such a way and manner that nepotism and favoritism would have no role to play again.
The panel urged the incoming CJN to rise to the challenge of arresting the issuance of conflicting judgments and orders by courts of coordinated jurisdiction in the interest of the judiciary and people.
Besides, the panelists further charged the new head of the judiciary to focus on discipline and accountability as a way of restoring the public interest into the arm of the government.
Another issue they suggested for the CJN nominee to carry out surgical operations is in the handling of election petitions and political cases, which they held had dampened the belief of Nigerians in the judiciary with the sad experience of the recent past.
The stakeholders also want Kekere-ekun to reform the Supreme Court itself in such a way that only cases of national importance would be lodged at the apex court while minor matters should be made in the reform to terminate at the lower courts.
Speaking at the event, Executive Director of Tap Initiative, Mr. Martin Obono, observed that the National Judicial Council (NJC), which oversees the appointment of judges has recently come under heavy criticism, especially with the outgoing CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, accused of appointing his family members and relatives as well as children and relatives of former justices into the bench.
While alleging that the Council disregarded its guidelines over recent appointments, Obono claimed that “there have been reports of insider subversion of the applicable rules governing judicial appointments, such as the reported appointments in one instance of a candidate who scored zero in the NJC interview”.
He, therefore, urged the new CJN “to commit explicitly to a policy of restoring integrity and merit to judicial appointments,” stating that achieving this would entail the introduction of transparent processes of selection, advertisement of judicial vacancies as well as nomination of candidates, interview, shortlisting, and final selection.
Another lawyer and member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Folarin Aluko, urged the new CJN to urgently tackle the incidences of conflicting judgments and abuse of interim injunctions.
“There should be a clear practice direction on the management of territorial jurisdiction overlaps. It is suggested for this purpose that the structure and scope of such overlaps be agreed at the All Nigerian Conference of Judges and the Practice Directions should be uniform across all the court systems in the country”, he said.
On her part, Aisha Yesufu called for the introduction of a mechanism for increased financial transparency, accountability, and public reporting to restore public trust.
She also stated that disciplinary processes should be “both prompt and decisive and dispositions or punishment should be calibrated to be proportionate to the seriousness of the misconduct found.
Also speaking, professor Ojukwu advised the new CJN not to do anything that would make Nigerians emotional but to make the principle of equity, fairness, and justice her watchword.
The law Professor also wants the court to devise a means of removing itself from election cases so that leaders would be the true choices of the electorates and not the court.
Another Law professor, Samuel Erugo, SAN, suggested that the Supreme Court should be reformed in such a way that it can review its judgments, especially when there is great public outcry.
Justice Kekere-Ekun is expected to take over the leadership of Nigeria’s judiciary on Thursday when the incumbent, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, will proceed on reciting to attain the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.
